6/28/09 - 96 600cc micro sprint cars were on hand for the race at the famous Lincoln Speedway this past Sunday night.  Shaun started 7th in the first heat and finished 5th.  Starting 1st in the second heat Shaun led with 3 laps to go before getting out motored down the front stretch by another competitor; Shaun would end up 2nd.  Having to run the C-main Shaun started 3rd and finished there.  Starting 21st in the B-main Shaun came up to finish an impressive 8th place finish.  Missing the A-main by 2 spots.  "Wow, what a night.  We just kept working on set-up and never gave up.  By the B-main we had the car perfect.  Our car handled the best entering the corners; so while others were slowing down to get turned, I was able to slide under them.  Coming off the corner was another story though.  Our spare engine runs great for all the races it has on it; at the same time we needed more motor to be competitive.  I would end up giving up some of the ground I made up on the field every lap coming out of the corners.  Thankfully, we made more gains entering then we gave up exiting; if that makes sense.  All and all we ended up 28th out of 96 cars.  Not bad considering this was our first Lincoln Speedway Speedweek show raced.  Next we will be at LANCO Speedway Saturday July 4th for the Micro Mania race.  This is our "Daytona 500"; so obviously we want to win this one," said Shaun.

 

6/13/09 - Well the last 3 weeks have been very eventful.  Shaun Brandel was scheduled to race during Memorial Day weekend at Lanco Saturday night and Trail-way Speedway on Sunday.  Going out for his warm-up laps at Lanco, Shaun's main motor blew.  The following weekend NASCAR came in to race at Dover International Speedway where Shaun spent his weekend seeking an opportunity to go racing and helping out a Camping World Truck team.  The Thursday prior to that weekend Shaun helped out at the "Drive for Autism" event held by Autism Delaware.  I'm told Shaun and Dick Berggren behaved themselves this year but am skeptical.  Finally, on June 13th Shaun started out 7th in his heat race and ended up 5th.  The race went green to checker and was Shaun's first race on his spare motor; which I'm told is good but has plenty of miles on it.  Getting ready to go out for his feature event at Lanco rains would put a stop to that and cause Lanco to reschedule the race for Saturday June 20th.                                                                  

     "Well these last few weeks as said above have definitely been eventful.  Our main engine blowing up really set us back.  We're relying on our back up now.  Still pounding the pavement to get a chance in NASCAR.  Hopefully something comes to fruition soon.  Helping out at the "Drive for Autism" was awesome, as always.  This year was the 2nd year I got to hang out with Dick Berggren during the golfing event.  For anyone that get's a chance to meet Dick Berggren, I highly recommend that you do.  This guy is classy and just plain fun.  We had a great time; and yes behaved as well.  So now this weekend (weather willing) we will go out to make up our rained out feature and then start a regular night of racing.  Thanks to everyone who comes to our site and reads our updates, thanks to our sponsors, and thanks to Artie Kempner and Autism Delaware for a great weekend towards a worthy cause," said Shaun.

 

5/16/09 - Shaun Brandel started 6th in the heat race.  As soon as the green flag dropped Shaun picked up a 2-3 lb. piece of dirt that lodged in his right front wheel.  Causing an unbearable vibration in the front end and steering wheel, Shaun did all he could to keep the car on the track.  By the time he came off the track he finished in 7th with a blister half the size of his palm on his right hand and tiny blisters on his left hand.  Shaun started 3rd in the consi and would finish there.  Starting 21st in the feature Shaun took on the pain of blisters, missing wrecks happening all around him, and gradually moving to the front to finish out the night in 10th place.  "I swore to myself that we would make the inversion during our heat race this week so that we could start top 10 in the feature race.  Sure enough the mud packed our right front wheel and made the car un-drivable.  Shoot, I was letting go of the steering wheel down the straightaway because my hands were starting to hurt so bad.  By the time the feature rolled around I had my team help me fold a paper towel up into a thick piece and duck tape it to the palm of my right hand.  It was very uncomfortable but it helped take away the pain while gripping the steering wheel.  I knew starting the race in the 21st position I would have my work cut out for me.  I'm pleased with a top 10 finish though.  I figure the car was about 80% on set-up and the driver was at about 80% as well.  For some reason we just couldn't loosen up the car enough all night long.  A tight condition plagued us this past week but we're confident we'll hit the set-up better this week." said Shaun.

 

5/9/09 - Shaun Brandel started 5th in the heat race.  Going from green to checker Shaun was able to gain one spot finishing in the 4th position with a "bouncy" back end problem in the race car.  Shaun started 15th in the feature.  Gradually working his way to the front and making two risky 3-wide passes on the track Shaun found himself just outside the top 10 with 10 laps to go.  Unfortunately the next time he came around a car went tumbling in front of Shaun tagging the right side of his race car.  Shaun thought he'd be able to finish the race but during the caution flag laps Shaun's right rear tire went completely flat and he was forced to pull off the track.  "Well, appears we didn't get by that last accident without damage.  I knew I made contact with the other car but was praying that my right rear tire didn't take a hit.  Sure enough it was flat and there was nothing more we could do for the night.  The car was awesome in the feature.  We were getting up through the field as best we could.  In the heat the back end was bouncing like I was on a pogo stick.  We believe we fixed that problem and now are getting ready for the races this Saturday.  We continue to get better and better every time we go out.  I'm very confident that with a little luck and good fortune; it will only be a matter of time till we pull in to victory lane in 2009." said Shaun.

 

5/2/09 - Shaun Brandel started 6th in the heat race.  After sorting out and getting single file Shaun was fighting a loose race car.  Trying to make adjustments while racing the race would go green to checker with no cautions and Shaun finished in the 5th position.  Starting on the pole in the consi race; Shaun led all 10 laps to win in dominating fashion putting a gap of 3/4 of a lap distance between him and the 2nd place car.  Shaun started 18th in the feature.  By lap 11 he was up to 12th spot.  1 group of cars in front of him raced side by side for 10 laps leaving Shaun waiting to pounce on whoever was going to make the pass.  Unfortunately when they finally got things sorted someone ran over the infield tires throwing them in front of Shaun on the track.  As he checked up to avoid the tires he got rear ended and spun around.  With only 5 laps to go Shaun was limited on the spots he could salvage back up.  Restarting in 19th Shaun got up to 15th and missed finishing in the 14th spot by .017 of a second.  "Another hard fought night.  Once again this car has had a different set-up in it each time it has gone out.  In the consi we had a GREAT set-up in the thing.  It was a rocket but it wasn't very maneuverable.  Being we ran out front around no other cars we didn't see this problem until it was too late.  When we got in the feature the car was too tight for us to pass other cars.  We made some cockpit adjustments with the shocks that helped but we still didn't have a winning car.  Another top 10 was going to happen for us for sure though had we not gotten tagged in the back.  This week we're throwing something new at the car again and I'm expecting even better things." said Shaun.

 

4/25/09 - Shaun Brandel started 5th in the heat race and gradually moved up to finish in the 3rd position.  Starting 10th in the feature Shaun got caught up in an opening lap accident that he could not avoid.  Putting him back in 18th spot before a lap was even put in.  From there Shaun missed many accidents around him during the wild and crazy night at LANCO Speedway.  By lap 8 Shaun was up 8 spots in the 10th position.  Sure enough, Shaun could only avoid so many accidents before his luck was up; and he found himself in a situation again where he could not avoid an accident that happened in front of him.  This accident bent the front axle; but Shaun was still able to drive the car.  Restarting in the 14th position on lap 12 Shaun gradually moved up 7 spots to finish 7th place in the 25 lap feature.  "This was a hard fought night.  One of the hardest I can remember running.  The car was good, I think we had a top 5 car had I not needed to pass most of the field 2 times.  Till I finally got up towards the front and away from the mayhem that was going on mid-pack I had ran out of time.  5 more laps for sure we would've cracked the top 5.  The car worked great and so far just about every time we have had the car on the track a new set-up has been put in it.  We're feeling the car out and getting great feedback.  So we'll go home with our heads held high tonight to be able to bounce back from two accidents to finish in the top 10.  Some repairs will be done to our race car before next week and we'll be back in business," said Shaun.